The Jesus Scandals
David
Instone-Brewer
Non Fiction
Back of the
book:
David
INstone-Brew unravels history to discover what has been lost over the centuries
– what Jesus’ contemporaries really thought about him and his teaching.
Jesus
scandalized both friends and enemies. Topics covered include:
·
his
parentage and accusations of alcohol abuse and fraudulent miracles
·
the
dubuious status of his followers – poorly educated, ex-prostitutes and the
certifiably mad
·
his
anti-religious teaching on temple practices, eternal torment, easy divorces and
judgment in this life
·
his
thoughts of suicide, shameful execution and impossible resurrection
Faithful
to the biblical text, this carefully researched book can be read as a whole or
as stand-alone chapters. Useful for house groups and as discussion starters.
About the
author:
Revd
Dr David Instone-Brewer is a Baptist Minister who was seconded to the academic
world by his denomination. He is now the Senior Research Fellow in Rabbinics
and the New Testament at Tyndale House in Cambridge. He has written several
academic books and articles on early Judaism and the Bible, as well as regular
contributions to Christianity
magazine. Other interests include computer programming and lowbrow movies.
My thoughts:
From
the beginning I was fascinated with this book. It is broken into three
sections, Scandals in Jesus’ Life, Scandals Among Jesus’ Friends and Scandals
in Jesus’ Teaching. Within each of these sections are several sub topics. Each
topic takes up four or five pages and is meant to be read in short segments of
time. If I remember correctly the author says he designed it to be read on your
coffee break.
I
enjoyed the brief readings and also the fact that you could read the book in
any order that you wished. I found myself skipping around from section to
section. Each story is told with personal accounts of the author’s life. He
then relates it to the subject at hand. The whole thing is well researched and
reference notes are included to back up each statement.
Overall
it was a very interesting read. I did not happen to agree with Dr Brewer on
everything but the differences of opinion caused me to think about my position
on certain subjects in a very positive way.
“Disclosure of Material
Connection: I received one or more of the products or
Services mentioned above
for free in the hope that I would mention it
on my blog. Regardless, I
only recommend products or services I use personally
and believe will be good
for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance
With the Federal Trade
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